Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Baked Eggplant

Hey everyone! I finally got to cook fried baked eggplant for supper last night. I've been wanting to cook it for the last 4 or 5 days, but just didn't have the time. I decided to try it a little different this time, and the outcome was great. I think this is my favorite way of cooking it so far. Here's my recipe.

Wash, peel, and slice the eggplant. You don't have to peel it, but I did. Slice the eggplant about 1/4 inch thick. Salt both sides and put the eggplant in a colander to drain. I put mine around the colander in a single layer so they would drain easier. Let them drain for about 30 minutes and then wash the salt off and pat them dry.
Put the panko bread crumbs in a shallow bowl and add the spices. Mix the bread crumbs and spices together. Put the whole wheat pastry flour with a little salt and pepper in a separate bowl, and mix that together. Then put the coconut milk in another separate bowl. You should have 3 bowls now for dipping the eggplant.
First, dip the eggplant into the coconut milk. You don't want the eggplant drenched with the milk, so just quickly dip it into the milk and let the excess drip off. Transfer the eggplant into the bowl with the flour and get both sides covered well. Dip the eggplant back into the milk, then into the seasoned bread crumbs and coat well.
Preheat oven to 350. Transfer the breaded eggplant onto a cookie sheet that has been greased with olive oil or vegetable oil. Once all the eggplant slices are on the cookie sheet, spray the tops of the eggplant with olive oil or vegetable oil. Bake for 15 minutes then flip the eggplant and spray the tops with oil. Bake another 15 minutes. I then turned the broiler on for a couple of minutes to lightly brown the tops.

To go along with the baked eggplant I had couscous, steamed carrots & broccoli, and corn on the cob. Oh yeah, I topped my eggplant with some homemade marinara sauce. :o) I've been lacking in the nutrition area over the last few days, so this hit the spot!